100 Reasons religion is harmful to society

[Scotty]

I'm blogging this on my myspace, so help me out here.
So far...

100. Religion was created to keep people in control, during the dark ages
99. Circular logic is not logic
98. Moral inconsistencies religious texts
97. Religion justified racism
96. Religion justified sexism
95. Religion justified slavery
94. Religion justified rape
93. Religion justified discrimination of anyone who thought for themselves
92. Religion justified the murder of more people than any other reason for murder
91. Religion causes our schools to teach blatantly untrue information
90. Religion causes people to waste their lives trying to rationalize the obvious contradictions religion has with proven science
89. Religion restricts science and stunting society from further knowledge
88. Religion stunts free thought, which should be encouraged
87. Religion uses terroristic tactics to get people to believe something

Ideas?

[Prof Palace2]

Religion was a colonial tool
Religion destroyed many cultures

But hey it also gave us the the Life of Brian!

[Diplo]

To paraphrase Dawkins: Religion "teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world".

Religion diverts energy, resources and time away from solving genuine problems.

Religion fosters the view that what we do in private with consenting adults is the business of other people whom it doesn't concern.

Religion creates division in society and pits man against man in irreconcilable divide.

Religion can justify and encourage madmen to committ acts that no rational being could otherwise contemplate.

Religion makes people feel ashamed of being themselves.

I could go on all day, but I'll leave room for other people

[RedPill]

Religion suppresses emotion and sexual desire during puberty and beyond, which can lead to psychological illness and violent behaviour.

(i.e. sex offenders waiting to happen :-))

[samj]

100. Religion was created to control the masses
99. Circular logic isn't
98. Moral inconsistencies religious texts(?)
97. Religion justified racism
96. Religion justified sexism
95. Religion justified slavery
94. Religion justified rape
93. Religion justified discrimination
92. Religion justified the murder of more people than any other
91. Religion encourages teaching of false information
90. Religion causes people to waste their lives
89. Religion restricts science
88. Religion stunts free thought
87. Religion uses terroristic tactics
86. Religion is a dark ages concept
85. Religion stunts society
84. Religion discourages free thought
83. Religion contradictions scientifically proven facts
82. Religion hobbles development of cures for diseases
81. Religion serves no purpose in today's society
80. Religion is often associated with child abuse
79. Laws are more effective controls than religion
78. Religion forgives grievous acts
77. Religion promotes criminal behaviour
76. Religion represses sexuality
75. Religion fosters guilt
74. Religion causes psychological problems
73. Religion encourages complacency
72. Religion breeds resent
71. Religion is outdated
70. Religion is viral
69. Religion restricts freedom of choice
68. There are better alternatives to religion
67. All religions are minorities
66. Religion teaches intolerance
65. Religion is condescending
64. Religion forbids same sex couples
63. Religion promises things it cannot deliver
62. Religion destroys families
61. Morals do not depend on religion
60. Religion requires a significant time commitment
59. Religion does not adapt

Also, sprinkle the 'religion justified' throughout to give a common thread and keep people reading, and use present tense ('religion justifies' or 'religion attempts to justify').

[alan_s]

Religion takes up perfectly good TV programming space.
Religion is used to prevent two people who love each other from being together
Religion is used to force two people who don't love each other to be together
Religion wastes taxpayers money
Religion is not environmentally friendly

[alphabec]

This has roughly been said, but
religion tries to trap us in childhood
It essentially holds that we are neither competent nor worthy to do our own thinking or make our own decisions.
religion perverts the true beauty and significance of existence (and yes, that is a subjective value judgement).

[Aaron]

Here's my top ten to add...

Religion devalues reason.
Religion devalues truth.
Religion slows sceientific progress.
Religion slows social progress.
Religion takes the true beauty of the universe and replaces it with an ugly distortion.
Religion makes people feel more important in the universe than they really are.
Religion gives the mind theability to rationalize truth in spite of mountains of countering evidence.
Religion creates guilt. Guilt creates stress. Stress creates violence.
Religion steals knowledge from people. There are people dying every second of every day who do not know the incredible beauty of what we actually know for fact is the universe because their religion told them to shut their eyes in ignorance.
Religion steals money and manpower that could truely be used to end poverty world wide.

If you want to add historical examples of these I will be happy to type them up.

[Catherine]

My only suggestion would be not to use the past tense for reasons 97-92. Religion is still being used to justify all that crap

[jakedanger]

Hey atheists-

The matrix has you... 8)

[Teague]

- Religion is a lie
- Religion thinks that the world is less than 10,000 years old
- Religion makes you love religion more than your own family

[eggplantbren]

Hey, sounds like my Myspace blog that I just wrote.

http://www.myspace.com/eggplant_bren

[panajache69]

- religion promotes non-consensual genital mutilation

[waynechaw]

religion cause believers to love death more than infidels love life

[LogicIsMyOnlyGuide]

I put togeather 60 from the replies so far

100. Religion was created to keep people in control, during the dark ages
99. Circular logic is not logic
98. Moral inconsistencies religious texts
97. Religion justified racism
96. Religion justified sexism
95. Religion justified slavery
94. Religion justified rape
93. Religion justified discrimination of anyone who thought for themselves
92. Religion justified the murder of more people than any other reason for murder
91. Religion causes our schools to teach blatantly untrue information
90. Religion causes people to waste their lives trying to rationalize the obvious contradictions religion has with proven science
89. Religion restricts science and stunting society from further knowledge
88. Religion stunts free thought, which should be encouraged
87. Religion uses terroristic tactics to get people to believe something
86. Religion was a colonial tool
85. Religion destroyed many cultures
84. religion promotes non-consensual genital mutilation
83. religion cause believers to love death more than infidels love life
82. religion tries to trap us in childhood
81. Religion is not environmentally friendly
80. Religion takes up perfectly good TV programming space.
79. Religion is used to prevent two people who love each other from being together
78. Religion is used to force two people who don't love each other to be together
77. Religion causes people to waste their lives
76. Religion restricts science
75. Religion stunts free thought
74. Religion uses terroristic tactics
73. Religion contradictions scientifically proven facts
72. Religion serves no purpose in today's society
71. Religion is often associated with child abuse
70. Laws are more effective controls than religion
69. Religion forgives grievous acts
68. Religion promotes criminal behaviour
67. Religion represses sexuality
66. Religion causes psychological problems
65. Religion encourages complacency
64. Religion breeds resent
63. Religion devalues reason.
62. Religion devalues truth.
61. Religion slows sceientific progress.
60. Religion slows social progress.
59. Religion takes the true beauty of the universe and replaces it with an ugly distortion.
58. Religion makes people feel more important in the universe than they really are.
57. Religion gives the mind theability to rationalize truth in spite of mountains of countering evidence.
56. Religion creates guilt. Guilt creates stress. Stress creates violence.
55. Religion steals knowledge from people. There are people dying every second of every day who do not know the incredible beauty of what we actually know for fact is the universe because their religion told them to shut their eyes in ignorance.
54. Religion steals money and manpower that could truely be used to end poverty world wide.
53. Religion is outdated
52. Religion is viral
51. Religion restricts freedom of choice
50. There are better alternatives to religion
49. All religions are minorities
48. Religion teaches intolerance
47. Religion is condescending
46. Religion forbids same sex couples
45. Religion promises things it cannot deliver
44. Religion destroys families
43. Morals do not depend on religion
42. Religion requires a significant time commitment
41. Religion does not adapt
40. Religion is hate and fear.

nice list so far just need last 39 then i add to my bebo profile blog.

[Muchy]

I put togeather 60 from the replies so far

Cool. And most of them are bad. Most of these so-called "reasons" for the intrinsic "badness" are either not absolute, attack a certain application of religion, are repetitive, concern only one branch of all religions or are simplified. That's the problem with such lists; they are the utterly wrong medium to provide reasonable thoughts. Also I don't understand the preoccupation with the magic "top 100 list". How is a "Top 100 list of good, bad, repeated or worthless ideas people have why religion is bad" better than "Two consistent, well-thought and argueable reasons why religion is bad including a short elaborating essay"?

Anyone whose opinion fits in a top100 list has not thought it through.

Here is what you could do:

• Forget the human urge to categorize things into neat, limiting little boxes
• Forget the hysterical web2.0-buzzword-concept of a blogosphere or coherent link- or toplists.
• Define religion or start with a predefined religion such as Christianity and draw logical conclusions why the very concept of religion or the religion in question is bad
• Additionally mention things which you think are mainly caused by the definition or religion you chose or it's application and discuss those, too
• Post that and resist the temptation to add a "comment"-section or a short paragraph begging for "diggs" or "relays" or "trackbacks".
• Add a short link to a forum you like, post the article there as well and discuss it if you feel the need to

I'm sick and tired of what the alleged web-2.0 did to the internet generation. And many more things. For example why the quality of TV and radio declines since their very start. But that is besides the point.

M., ranting.

[AquaFight]

religion justifies hours of boredom in a closed, cold, wet place

religion teaches to be submiss and lower yourself as a human being

according to religion nobody is good

religion teaches behaviour through authority by means of award and punishment

abortion

stem cell research

middle east war

terrorism

(no) condom use

forcing people to remain married

the q'uaran talks too much about "Doom - Hell on Earth"

[Siddhartha]

My only suggestion would be not to use the past tense for reasons 97-92. Religion is still being used to justify all that crap

It doesnt just justify it, it PROMOTES and ENCOURAGES it.

[Zenrage]

40. Religion promotes fear through the spread of irrational hate.

Sorry, had to fix it. Rational hate promotes change in society. We have to hate something, even to a small degree, to be able to justify changing the current status quo of that thing.

Otherwise:

Religion exacts payment for services under the penalty of sin.

[Katherine]

Just think of me as your "token Fundie"...

We already have one or two, thanks all the same.....

[Zenrage]

Hey atheists-

The matrix has you... 8)

Hey Jake,

Your god is a personal delusion caused by that voluntary schizophrenia you call religious faith with the sole purpose of overshadowing your social inadequacies while allowing you to be nothing more than a social parasite.

Come back when you have something intelligent to say.

[DanDare]

Hey atheists-

The matrix has you... 8)

Oh, so god is just an Artificial Intelligence? That explains some of its worst mistakes. So who was the incompetent bugger who programmed it and where did that person come from?

[DanDare]

Nice idea and all, guys, but I don't think its good argument to say "Religion does xyz". Many of these statements do not apply to all religions. Specific religions could be criticised this way but you would still have to say which version. You could try to criticise Faith as a process in this way. Or you could say "These are some bad things produced by believers in religion and by teaching religious dogma". Or you could say "Here are 100 things that are bad for society and the groups of people that do them". You should add supporting evidence. Don't want to rain on anyone's parade but I think good argument is important and I'm not sure that this is.

[BigBrother]

There are just too many things on this thread that are too inaccurate.... I simply don't know where to start...

If just a decently smart believer read those things, he could make a strong argument at how tunnel-visioned and narrow-minded the atheists that made it are.....

[BigBrother]

Nice idea and all, guys, but I don't think its good argument to say "Religion does xyz". Many of these statements do not apply to all religions. Specific religions could be criticised this way but you would still have to say which version. You could try to criticise Faith as a process in this way. Or you could say "These are some bad things produced by believers in religion and by teaching religious dogma". Or you could say "Here are 100 things that are bad for society and the groups of people that do them". You should add supporting evidence. Don't want to rain on anyone's parade but I think good argument is important and I'm not sure that this is.

Come on. Saying things like religion is a dark age concept and religion makes you think the world is less than 10,000 years old.... how is that NOT a good argument?

I'd be surprised if just about every believer in the world didn't leave their religions just after hearing those obviously well thought out and objectively proposed 'arguments'.